All I'm Askin is for a Little Organization

That's it. I really don't think it's too much to ask, but I could be wrong. Last week, the Institute called to offer me another class - MWF from 8:20 to 9:50 at night. Rock on, I'll take it. So I'm told to come pick up my books/materials for the class, which should include a roll book, etc. I go last Friday and am told the roll book isn't quite ready yet (what? the class starts Monday) - so I must come back on Monday. Oooook fine. Oh, by the way... turns out this class has technically already started. There have been 2 class sessions already, taught by 2 different fill-in professors while they were trying to find someone permanent. So in addition to coming to pick up the roll book on Monday, I am also expecting them to hand me a list of what has already been done the first 2 classes. Here's pretty much how that went when I went to the Institute on Monday:

Me: Hi, I'm here to pick up the roll book and list of material already covered for this class (handing the secretary a piece of paper).

Secretary (frowning): Hmmmm, yeahhhhh... see, the thing is, we have to track down the first 2 professors and ask them what they've already covered. You'll have to come back later.

Me: But this class starts tonight. What am I supposed to do with them?

Secretary: Yeahhhhhh umm.. I think they probably covered the first 2 pages last time.

Me: [silence]

*** crickets ***

Secretary: Hmmm, let me try to call someone.... (I wait). Oops, they didn't answer their phone. You'll just have to ask the students what they did last class.

Good grief, people. Honestly? Is it really that hard to get your crap together and organize a class? I ended up going to the class and trying to get the students to tell me what they did before. And then there's the old reliable "2 Truths and a Lie", which we played for a few rounds. About 20 minutes into the class, one of the secretaries knocks on the door and hands me a piece of paper - on it was the God-awful handwriting of someone who I suppose was the previous teacher for the class, attempting to communicate to me in one horribly written sentence what had been covered last time. I glanced at it, decided there was no way I was going to decipher it, and continued with my own thing.

After class was over and I was walking to the metro, a pigeon flew over my head, and for a brief second I almost hoped it would poop on my head - and that something equally as cool as what happened to Kyle would happen to me. Then I realized I really didn't feel like cleaning poop off my head. I would still like something good and unexpected to happen to me, though. :)

Might Be a Quarter Life Crisis...

I turned 25 years old today. Wow, that looks old when I see it typed out... does anyone else think that´s old? I´m not complaining, though... as my dad always says,¨beats the alternative¨(the alternative being dying, not growing younger haha). Today started out... well, in a way. I was supposed to have a class at 8:00 this morning, and I got to the company only to wait..and wait..and wait some more. Finally at 8:45, some woman came and told me, ¨sorry, your student had a problem and won´t be able to come today - he sends his apologies.¨ My first 2 thoughts: 1) Problem = couldn´t get out of bed in time? and 2) You´re telling me this at 8:45 WHY? ... But in the end, I figured, what the heck. It´s my birthday, and this is my first birthday present. Because I still get paid even though I didn´t have class. So I took myself to Starbucks and got a Grande coffee to wake up. And as I was sitting there, I thought.. I´ve been living for 25 years - have I even accomplished anything of merit in all that time? Then I looked at my watch and realized it was way too early in the morning for such deep thoughts. Better to leave that one until at least... noon.

A Haiku

Communication
Is severely lacking here
Oh Chile - why, why?

Show Me the Money

...Yeah right, I wish. BUT at least I do have a job now, which makes me very happy. So far, I have 2 classes. Not much, but they seem to keep adding more on, so that helps. One of my classes is a conversation class with 5 students, on MWF from 1:30 to 3:00. The other class has only one student (yay!), and is Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. I'm thinking of trying to do private classes too, to supplement what I'll be making at the Institute. And yes, it will always be referred to as the "Institute", after reading about the Big Brother-like activities of another institute that shall remain nameless . Anyway, I'm actually excited about my classes, so we'll see what happens!

In other news, I think I annoyed the crap out of the guy working at the little Kodak store in Lider the other day. I needed to get 4 photos taken, Carnet size, with my passport number on them. So he took the photos, and was editing them to include my passport number when he asked if I wanted to include my name too. I thought, "hmmmm, maybe I should, just in case." So I spelled out my whole name for him, he typed it in, etc etc. He was just about to print the pictures when he asked me if I was sure everything was fine with the pictures. I hesitated, and was thinking, "the director at the Institute just told me to put my passport number, not my name... I don't want to screw this up and have to come back AGAIN." So I asked him to erase my name and just leave the number. It was at this point that he informed me he was going to have me sent back to the U.S. Then he thought about it and decided he'd rather send me to Venezuela and let Chavez deal with me. I assured him there was a tip in it for him if he printed the pictures for me with just my passport number. It was tense for a second... I felt like I was on the hot seat on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", with the Chilean version of Regis Philbin asking me, "Is that your final answer?".. yes, it's my final answer, please print the pictures this way. Poor guy.

Did I Mention I Love Spontaneity?

Because I do (did I spell spontaneity right?). And that´s why, this weekend, I will be going to Mendoza with Chabelita in Chile (why oh why can´t I find the button to create a link to her blog right now?!). I´m excited, being that I´ve never been anywhere in Sudamerica outside of Chile. Granted, Mendoza may not be a booming metropolis, but I´ve heard it´s pretty fun. And let´s face it, I´m always up for anything. Have a great weekend everybody!

Random Musings

1. You know those posters in the metro that say "En el metro siempre nace nuestro lado amable¨? To that, I only have one thing to say: Wishful thinking, party of one.

2. I almost offered some of my ¨Nuts for Nuts¨ to el tipo that makes sure people stay behind the yellow line in the metro stations. I don´t really know why... come to think of it, he didn´t even look particularly buena onda.

3. Yesterday was ridiculous. I left the Instituto at 5:30 (could I have picked a worse time?) and of course, it was pouring down raining. I waited for 3 trains to pass before I finally managed to squeeze onto the metro at Baquedano. But while waiting, I felt like I was being violated by the lady pressed up against my back. I was also about to have to fight her because she was about to push me onto the tracks. Hey, I don´t particularly want to be electrocuted today, thanks anyway.

4. My thought process today while in Paris, Ripley, and Falabella looking for some pants suitable for work - ¨Hmmm, that looks cute... [searching through the sizes]... ok, nevermind." Two minutes later... ¨Oooooh, I really like these! [pull them out and hold them up to me]... yeahhhhhh, these are going to be way too long.¨ And so it continues. Seems like the chances of me finding a pair of dress pants here that fit me are about as good as the chances of Chile winning the World Cup. O sea, not good.

5. Choripan + whatever flavor of Cristal we had last night = win. I´m normally not a fan of Cristal, but D picked a good flavor last night.

6. While sitting at Starbucks today (I know, I know), I realized my cell phone was still in my bag and I should probably take it out in case anyone calls. Upon opening it, I am told I have 11 missed calls. ELEVEN. And the best part is, I think they were all from the Instituto, wanting to offer me more classes to teach (thankfully, I finally got to my phone in time when they called, and now I have more hours! Woohoooooo!).

More to come later...

Help a Gringa Out, Part II

Thanks for the comments and advice yesterday, everybody! I appreciate it :) Now if I could bother everybody for one more question - what is the cheapest online TEFL course you have found? Recommendations for which one to do? I´ve been told at the institute where I´ll be working that I have to complete my TEFL certificate online, so I´m wondering the best route to go for that. Thanks!!

Help a Gringa Out...

I know there´s a completely easy answer to this that I´m overlooking right now, but quite frankly I´m too lazy at the moment to think of it. So, fellow gringa bloggers working here in Santiago as English teachers (or, as whatever, really) - how do you get the money that your employers pay you into your U.S. bank accounts?

Sopa Para Uno, Warmy, and Advanced Screenings

Man am I bored. I´ve been sitting at home all day (home right now = D´s house), because a) when I got out of bed this morning it was so frickin cold that it didnt give me ganas to do anything, and b) i´ve been hoping the English institute I went to yesterday would call me like they said they would. So, what have I been doing all day? A whole lot of not much, basically. I keep coming upon gringa-in-Chile blogs, and I find them terribly interesting as I am a fellow gringa in Chile, so I´ve been doing a lot of reading of those today. I pulled the little estufa, cleverly named ¨Warmy¨(I didn´t name it that, it says it on the space heater, I swear), out of D´s parents´room, and have been bundled up next to that reading blogs and eating Sopa Para Uno. I went downstairs earlier to get some, and was searching through the cabinets, wondering what delightful flavor I might encounter. I kept pulling out packet after packet of jugo, until I finally found 2 packs of soup... ¨well, looks like my choices are Choclo, or... Choclo.¨I´ll let you guess which one I chose.

Switching gears, last night was a ton of fun. D´s dad works for an advertising agency, and one of their accounts is CineMark. As such, from time to time he gets free movie passes. When D told me yesterday that his dad had movie passes for all of us that night, I thought, "oh, cool." But, oh no... MORE than cool. I was getting ready to go when I saw D pulling out a black tie from his closet. ¨What the...¨ I thought. I asked him what the deal was. Apparently we were supposed to dress up a bit, because this was an advanced screening of some movie, complete with a cocktail beforehand. So I put on a little makeup, the only pair of nice-looking boots I have, and pulled my hair back. Off we went to some mall in Las Condes (not Parque Arauco, another one I can´t remember the name of). I was starving because there wasn´t time to eat dinner before we went... and as luck would have it, the good Lord shined his face on us and there were waiters circulating with vino tinto, vino blanco (my favorite), some kind of raspberry drink, jugo natural, and Coke. And then there were little sandwiches, crackers, about 5 different kinds of cheese, and then to round it all out, chocolates. D´s brother made my day by telling me I looked like Julia Roberts. HA. The funniest thing was all the ¨pelo lice¨staring at him - D´s brother is really tall, cute, and looks kind of rock star-ish. Then it was on to the movie itself. The movie was a Mexican film, called La Misma Luna. I actually enjoyed it a lot, and was glad I understood most of the Spanish parts. I was surprisingly exhausted when we got home, and thankful that I didn´t have to get up early today. A very nice evening, overall. :)

Mapocho Urbano Limpio

the caps lock key on this keyboard isn´t currently working... awesome. i had to copy and paste the title of this blog, so just keep that in mind as you read and i don´t capitalize anything. :)

today as d. and i were driving in providencia, near estacion baquedano, we saw a sign for the project Mapocho Urbano Limpio. d explained some of the components to me, and i did a little research online, and it sounds pretty exciting. basically, anyone who´s walked across the bridge to get to bellavista has smelled that oh-so-wonderful odor that is the rio mapocho. it is, in a word, disgusting. but luckily, there are finally plans to clean it up! that´s what this new project (which is slated to begin soon and be finished by the end of 2009) is all about - cleaning up and giving new life to the river - and by extension, the city. as it is now, the river is extremely contaminated and has an adverse effect on the health of the citizens here. but se supone that this project will help diminish the risk of contracting diseases such as hepatitis currently present in the river´s water.

i´m very excited about the implications for improved public health that this project will provide, but i´m also excited about what this may do for the economy of santiago. i know it´s only one project, but it could prove to be a huge step... in addition to cleaning up the river, there is talk of making it a source of nautical recreation. imagine, the mapocho - navigable. i think there has also been mention of constructing more cafes, restaurants, who knows what, al lado del rio. basically, think of chile´s version of venice ;) maybe not quite so cool, but who knows. the project has an estimated cost of 57 mil millones de pesos and will provide jobs to approximately 2,000 people. overall, i think it sounds very promising... a clean river, hopefully a boost for the economy.. viva mapocho!